Front Row

BBC

Live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music.

  • 42 minutes 30 seconds
    Review: Better Man, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and How to make Millions before Grandma Dies

    Boyd Hilton and Arifa Akbar join Tom to review:

    Better Man, the Robbie Williams biopic with a twist – he’s depicted as a Monkey.

    Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the Almeida theatre’s new production of Tennesee Williams' play with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Kingsley Ben-Adir.

    And How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies, a new film from Thai director Pat Boonnitipat about family relationships, memories, death and inheritance.

    Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones

    19 December 2024, 8:10 pm
  • 42 minutes 2 seconds
    Chris McCausland, Lauren Mayberry and Barry Jenkins

    Fresh from his success as the winner of Strictly Come Dancing, comedian and actor Chris McCausland joins us to talk about his new TV film Bad Tidings, his forthcoming solo tour and of course triumphing in TV's biggest dance contest.

    Singer Lauren Mayberry, best known as the frontwoman of Scottish synth pop band Chvrches, talks about her debut solo album, on which her songs examine themes societal pressures, the mother-daughter relationship and her experiences as a female musician in a band alongside two men.

    And the Oscar-winning director of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, speaks about his experiences making Mufasa, the prequel to Disney's hugely popular Lion King, which is in cinemas from this weekend.

    Presenter: Kate Molleson Producer: Mark Crossan

    18 December 2024, 8:26 pm
  • 42 minutes 24 seconds
    Simon Russell Beale, Rufus Wainwright and Kate Garner

    The actor Simon Russell Beale speaks about playing the poet and scholar A. E. Housman in Tom Stoppard's play 'The Invention of Love', as well as discussing his memoir.

    The singer, songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright was inspired to write a Requiem by his love of the composer Giuseppe Verdi and the loss of his dog, named Puccini. He speaks about the project and the involvement of Meryl Streep.

    And Kate Garner performs songs from the music halls, alongside the historian and writer Oskar Jensen discussing the stories behind the songs.

    Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ruth Watts

    17 December 2024, 8:18 pm
  • 43 minutes 24 seconds
    Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas, Nick Park on new Wallace & Gromit film, Organs discussion

    Call The Midwife creator Heidi Thomas talks to Front Row about writing the drama's Christmas special, Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham discuss co-directing the new Wallace & Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, and ahead of the Royal College of Organists' new initiative - Play The Organ 2025 - organists David Pipe and Claire M Singer join Nick to discuss updating perceptions of the "king of instruments".

    Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu

    16 December 2024, 8:49 pm
  • 42 minutes 21 seconds
    Review: The Devil Wears Prada, 100 Years of Solitude, The Universal Theory

    Samira is joined by novelist Linda Grant and critic Jason Solomons to review the musical version of The Devil Wears Prada with music by Elton John.

    We also review the new TV dramatisation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s classic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is released today – how did they manage the magic realism? 

    And The Universal Theory, a German mystery thriller film about parallel universes.    

    And we take a look at the use of Rudyard Kipling's 1903 poem Boots, in a new trailer for a new Hollywood blockbuster zombie film.

    Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Corinna Jones

    12 December 2024, 8:12 pm
  • 42 minutes 4 seconds
    Jesus and Mary Chain, The politics of pantomime & Video games of the year

    Brothers William and Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain talk to Kirsty Wark about the ups and downs of their career in music.

    Plus a discussion on the politics of pantomime,

    And the video games of the year.

    Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

    11 December 2024, 8:04 pm
  • 42 minutes 26 seconds
    Daniel Craig and Luca Guadagnino, Public Service Broadcasting perform live

    Daniel Craig and Luca Guadagnino talk about their new film Queer, which is based on the William S. Burroughs novella about a love affair between an aging alcoholic and a young discharged serviceman in post-war 1950s Mexico City.

    Public Service Broadcasting perform The South Atlantic from their latest album The Last Flight, which is themed around the pioneering American pilot Amelia Earhart who disappeared in 1937 whilst attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world.

    Could the late Agatha Christie soon be heard narrating her own audio books? The audio publishing industry is currently wrestling with the creative, ethical and regulatory implications of the increasing using artificial intelligence. Samira explores the issues with Jon Watt, Chair of the Audio Publishers Group and Audio Director at Bonnier Books UK and Dr Kerry McInerney from Cambridge University and co-host of the Good Robot Podcast.

    Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Claire Bartleet

    10 December 2024, 8:29 pm
  • 42 minutes 28 seconds
    Kelsey Mann on Inside Out 2, Humphrey Bogart documentary, Susan Chardy

    Disney's hit Inside Out 2 film explored youthful emotions to incredible success as the film is not only the highest grossing film of 2024 but it's also the most successful animated film of all time. Director Kelsey Mann explains how they made it.

    Humphrey Bogart remains one of Hollywood's most iconic screen stars and new the new documentary Bogart: Life Comes In Flashes looks at his life and career through the five women who had the greatest impact on him, including the equally iconic Lauren Bacall. The film's director Kathryn Ferguson and the film historian Pamela Hutchinson explore Bogie's enduring appeal.

    Tom talks to Susan Chardy, the star of new Zambian comedy-drama On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, who won Breakthrough Performance at last night's British Independent Film Awards.

    And the Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw talks about today's Golden Globe nominations, which celebrates the best in film and television.

    Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Ruth Watts

    9 December 2024, 8:08 pm
  • 42 minutes 22 seconds
    Review: Rumours, The Importance of Being Earnest, Grand Theft Hamlet

    Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Naomi Alderman and Mark Ravenhill to review a new production of The Importance of Being Earnest at the National Theatre, starring the current Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa, W1A’s Hugh Skinner and Sharon D Clarke. Plus comedy horror Rumours starring Cate Blanchett, and Grand Theft Hamlet – a documentary film which was shot inside the GTA game during the 2021 lockdown.

    Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

    5 December 2024, 8:33 pm
  • 42 minutes 13 seconds
    New Makar, future of musical theatre, arts funding in Scotland

    Scotland's new Makar (National Poet) Peter Mackay, whose appointment was announced this week, talks about how he intends to shape the role over the next three years.

    Elizabeth Newman of Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Jon Gilchrist of Birmingham Hippodrome discuss new initiatives to boost the production of musical theatre around the UK.

    Plus Jacob Rees-Mogg on his reality TV series Meet the Rees-Moggs.

    And as the Scottish Budget is delivered, will arts organisations finally get some clarity on their funding?

    Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

    4 December 2024, 8:11 pm
  • 42 minutes 22 seconds
    Richard Curtis's new film, Purple Heart Warriors audio drama, Turner Prize announcement

    Tom Sutcliffe hears from the Love Actually writer and director Richard Curtis about how much he's obsessed by Christmas - and how he's now moved into animation for his latest film That Christmas, based on his trilogy of children’s books.

    There's advice on the best books to buy this Christmas from the literary critic Alex Clarke and Toby Lichtig, Fiction and Politics editor at the Times Literary Supplement.

    Tom also talks to the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Iris Yamashita about her new audio drama Purple Heart Warriors, which tells the extraordinary story of a Japanese-American unit in World War Two.

    And art critic Zarina Muhammad is in the studio to assess this year's Turner Prize artists, just as the winner is announced this evening.

    Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Paula McGrath

    3 December 2024, 8:15 pm
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